We have for your consideration Two Sony RPG’s and an honorable mention.  We know from last generation that Sony has always made the older hardware a priority, even years into a new cycle and that trend isn’t stopping. A top down hack’n’slash with a horrible witch and her demon servant, and two folks with a job to do and a timeline to do it, in are our features today, with The Witch and The Hundred Knight and Atlier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk

The Witch and the Hundred Knight

Release Date: March 25, 2014

Console:PS3

Genre/Rating: Action RPG / T

First up, The Witch and The Hundred Knight.  The Witch and the Hundred Knight is about a dastardly swamp witch named Metallia who really wants the rest of the world covered in the scuzzy green of her favorite muck and mire. To that end, she summons a legendary Demon, the Hundred Knight, a being of immense and terrible destructive power… and hes just as cute as a button!

An action RPG with a cutesy gloss of paint, think Diablo meets saturday morning anime, and you’ll have the idea, but that’s only skin deep. Metallia, the swamp witch isn’t a very nice person, and not in that dark anti-hero way either, more in the profanity spewing, elliminate her enemies and subjugate the townsfolk sort of way, so don’t let the bright colors and cartoon proportions fool you, The Witch and the Hundred Knight is certainly more towards the mature end of the spectrum.

Combat is based around a combo system, and a roll mechanic. The Hundred Knight can equip five weapons and swap on the fly, better weapons set ups will equal greater combo strings and victory!  Sir Hundred Knight’s dodge / roll technique, when timed perfectly, will slow down time, allowing players to unleash those combos, adding the satisfaction of precision to the glee and joy of hack and slash fun. When you’re not slicing and dicing the indigenous beasts and beings across the landscape, head to local towns and raid to your heart’s content to gain items, and gain your master the fear and intimidation of the populous.

Atlier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk

Release Date: March 11, 2014

Console: PS3

Genre/Rating: JRPG / T

There’s games about everything, the Sim game in particular, I mean, living the ordinary lives of simulated people became HUGELY popular, but this one I honestly didn’t see coming.  In Atlier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk you get to be a government employee, going about their day to day jobs, filing paperwork, meeting quota’s, and generally ensuring the bureaucratic wheels keep turning. Though, dropping the glib tone, your government job does involve alchemy and the slaying of monsters, so, it’s not like you’re working at a taxation office.

In earnest then, Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk follows the titular ‘heroes’ Escha and Logy are stationed in a small town in the country… a country filled with monsters. Working in a government R&D department, you’re on a four month schedule, which, as mentioned, includes things like slaying monsters and using Alchemy; if working for our government was like that, I’d be camping at city hall, looking for an internship. A JRPG, Atelier will have you fighting turn based combat, as well as utilizing menu systems, talking to locals, exploring the country side and other standard fair for the genre. Its angle, rather than the standard ‘end of all mankind’ and ‘angst ridden teenagers saving reality’ standards, is that you are a government official with a job to do. Success is in your time management and efficiency, seriously, you’ll be submitting a report to your boss at the end of your four months, I’m not sure if you’ve worked in an office before, but that’s more stressful than facing down any number of monsters.

Felt a fancy for something a bit different, or have just needed some RPG gaming in your life? Well, Sony’s got two great options with their PS3 exclusives, whether you’re looking for some frenetic combos in a classic top down, kill everything and take their stuff, action RPG, or a more serene JRPG.  And if its something completely different you’re after, have a look at Blazblue: Chrono Phantasma Collectors edition.  A flashy, beautiful 2D fighter, BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma is the third game in the BlazBlue series, and the only one exclusive to the PS3.

Kurtis Diston
A firm believer in "you have to get old, but you don't have to grow up," I've been an unabashed lover of nerdy things for a good long while and don't plan to stop anytime soon. With experience on both sides of the video game, both as a consumer and a producer, and a love of the written word, I've managed to combine all three right here with the Plug-in blog